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Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine! It showcases books that we can't wait on to come out!

The Glittering Court (The Glittering Court #1)

By: Richelle Mead

Released: April 5, 2016

The Selection meets Reign in this dazzling trilogy of interwoven novels about three girls on a quest for freedom and true love from #1 internationally bestselling author Richelle Mead."Brilliant and original, Mead’s new series starts off with a bang and will leave readers on the edge of their seats until the very end."—School Library Journal
For a select group of girls, the Glittering Court offers a shot at a life they’ve only ever dreamed of, one of luxury, glamour, and leisure. To high-born Adelaide, whose wealthy family is forcing her into a loveless marriage, the Glittering Court represents something else: the chance to chart her own destiny, and adventure in an unspoiled, prosperous new land across the sea.
After a chance meeting with the dazzling Cedric Thorn, Adelaide poses as a servant to join the crop of impoverished girls he promises to transform into proper ladies. But her familiarity with upper class life comes with a price: she must hide her identity from her new friends, mysterious refugee Mira and fiery former laundress Tamsin, and most importantly, from Cedric himself—even though she’s falling in love with him.
Everything begins to crumble when Cedric discovers Adelaide’s ruse, and she catches the eye of a powerful young governor, who wants her for a wife. She didn’t leave the gilded cage of her old life behind just to become someone else's property. But nothing is as daunting—or as wonderful—as the potent, forbidden attraction simmering between Adelaide and Cedric. One that, if acted on, would make them both outcasts in a wild, dangerous, uncharted world, and possibly lead them to their deaths.

Monday, March 28, 2016

Eleven months ago, bartender and weird-shirt-wearing extraordinaire Roxy and Officer Reece Anders had a one night stand. Well, kind of. She’s been in love with him since she was fifteen, and he wishes that night they shared never happened. She’s sworn him off forever, but the past and future collide, forcing her to rely on the one man who broke her heart not once, but twice.
Her best friend since birth has been in a long-term care facility since he became a victim of a hate crime years ago, and the person who put him in there is out of prison and wanting to make amends with him and Roxy. She’s not sure she has room for forgiveness in her and when she begins to receive frightening messages and is on the receiving end of escalating violence, she thinks she knows who is to blame. The man who already destroyed one life already.
But Reece isn’t convinced. The threats are too personal, and even if Roxy doesn’t believe him, he’s not willing to let anyone hurt her. Including himself. He’s already messed up more than once when it comes to Roxy and he’s not going to let history repeat itself.

Review:

God…. I love Jennifer
Armentrout’s writing. I don’t think anyone understands the love I have for her
books, and her latest one out, Fall With
Me, was no exception. My love for her books knows no bounds. So when Fall With Me came out, I had to read it.
The overall reading took me less than 24 hours and I loved every second of that
time. Yes, I understand my excessive use of the word love…

Armentrout is keeping
with her fourth spin off in the Wait For
You series. Fall With Me stars two
characters mentioned in the previous book, Reece and Roxy. Boy, I loved those
two. It also features cameos from other characters in the previous books that
honestly, just made me jump up and down with excitement! I never want to see a
book end, so adding a few of the main characters just makes me a very happy
camper.

Roxy is a spit-fire of a
girl who has been dealt a bad hand in life. Yet, you can’t help but love her
personality and interesting choices in shirts (read the book, you’ll
understand). Her best friend is incapable of speech and functioning on his own,
and Roxy feels as if she is to blame for that. Not to mention the guy who was
in jail for hurting her friend, was just released. Piled on top of all that of
crap, she has a stalker. It’s a wonder this girl was even functioning. She kept
going strong and powered on through all the bad in her life. She was a
character who was resilient and adorable. I couldn’t help but find a little
piece of me in her, which might have to do with the fact that she has purple
hair and glasses.

Then there is Reece, the
sexy cop and ex-military. He has seen his fair share of violence and jumps
right back into the force when he comes home to his small little town to
protect the people he grew up with. Reece was an open book throughout the
entire story, no matter how much Roxy did her thing and got scared (NA
commonality), Reece was always there to make her stay and protect her. He also
had that caveman vibe going on that readers can’t decide if they want to smack
him or get all giddy over that protective side. He’s a cop, it’s in his nature
to be protective. Reece was one of the best male characters Armentrout has
written in my opinion. He never failed to protect and just be there for Roxy
when she needed him. He was a very good guy. I want a Reece.

Armentrout keeps you
entertained from cover to cover. I was laughing at the hilarious banter that
Armentrout is known for, scared for the characters, and maybe even a little
teary-eyed at certain points. It was a little predictable, I will admit that.
Most romance books nowadays are. It was the type of predictable that makes you
want to keep reading just to make sure that your predictions are correct and
the happy ending comes about.

If you have yet to read
anything by Jennifer Armentrout or J.Lynn (which is her pen name) I would
definitely recommend the Wait for You series. The books can be read alone, but
there are characters and stories mentioned in Fall With Me that could spoil other aspects of the books before.
This series is worth the read!

Monday, March 21, 2016

Alexa Hollen is a fighter. Forced to disguise herself as a boy and serve in the king's army, Alex uses her quick wit and fierce sword-fighting skills to earn a spot on the elite prince's guard. But when a powerful sorcerer sneaks into the palace in the dead of night, even Alex, who is virtually unbeatable, can't prevent him from abducting her, her fellow guard and friend Rylan, and Prince Damian, taking them through the treacherous wilds of the jungle and deep into enemy territory.
The longer Alex is held captive with both Rylan and the prince, the more she realizes that she is not the only one who has been keeping dangerous secrets. And suddenly, after her own secret is revealed, Alex finds herself confronted with two men vying for her heart: the safe and steady Rylan, who has always cared for her, and the dark, intriguing Damian. With hidden foes lurking around every corner, is Alex strong enough to save herself and the kingdom she's sworn to protect?

I do not know how to explain Defy. It was part romance, part adventure with a magical twist, and part betrayal. The story kept me very entertained the entire way through. Honestly, I read the entire story within a day. It hooked me that much.

Alexa, or Alex as she was called, immediately captured my attention. After her parents were murdered in front of her, she does everything she can to protect herself from going to a breeding house. Her twin, Marcus, cuts off her hair and they both go into the army. She exudes the confidence of a male, playing the part perfectly. Of course, she isn’t without her struggles, such as romance.

The romance aspect annoyed me. In Defy it seemed forced and unnatural to say the least. I hate love triangles. Unless well written, they get in the way of the story and it distracts from the real story. The love story in Defy was not well executed. All it did was make Alex more annoying. Plus, the boys who were fighting over her were very stupid! Seriously, who confesses their undying love for you while you are being held hostage and taken half-way across the country. (I guess that is a normal plot line in YA fiction….) Apparently Rylan and Damian, that’s who. Those boys made me want to reach into the book and smack them silly.

Damian’s whole character was based on him keeping secrets from Alex. He said he wanted to trust her, but how can you ever trust someone if you don’t first put your trust in them. It seemed that each chapter, a new secret that Damian was hiding would pop up and hurt Alex. I’m all for secrets in books, they do help move the plot along and give the book some mystery, but the amount of secrets that Damian had was annoying. I might be exaggerating, and I get it, he’s a prince, he’s gonna have some secrets! But enough is enough! Just tell the girl the truth every once in a while.

Rylan wasn’t really any better. He just didn’t keep secrets from Alex, besides loving her. Oh, and the fact that he knew she was a girl the entire time. Rylan is the silent brooding type. I don’t know what book or movie made that sterotype sexy, but I am personally not a fan. He gets upset when he shocks Alex with the truth and she doesn’t know exactly how to react. Who could blame her? Her only friend knows she’s a girl and is also in love with her. What’s a girl to do?

Alexa is still awesome though. While reading, you have to keep in mind that she has been hiding as a male for the last three years. SHE DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO HAVE FEELINGS! JUST LIKE ANY GUY! Especially any 17 year-old male. Gosh, are they stupid. They keep everything inside to put on this façade of machoness. It doesn’t work. This is coming from an 18 year old. IT DOESN’T WORK! You just push people away keeping everything inside, and that is what Alex was trying to do. She didn’t grieve properly (ever) and she had to act like a male. So her character was a little hard to get behind sometimes with the actions she chose, but it all worked out in the end. She was a badass. That’s all that matters. She was her own hero. She learned how to fight and protect herself so she would never be put into a breeding house. She was the best fighter that the palace had, beating all those males in strength, something they do not like. If she isn’t the embodiment of girl power, then I don’t know what is.

If you like fantasy with a romance aspect, and of course, unrequited love, then Defy is the book for you. Even if you don’t like those things, I would recommend checking it out. Defy was very well written and had a good story line that was easy to follow and kept me engaged. I might hate love triangles, but I finished this book in less than a day and immediately bought the sequel.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Blogging has always been a mix of easy and difficult for me. Sure, there are easy things, such as the formatting, thinking of new ideas to post, and designing the layout. Other things are more difficult, like actually sitting down and writing a post. That is why I stopped blogging for so long, I couldn't actually sit down and write a post without major difficulties. Now I am back and I am ready to try again.

I haven't learned anything that I already didn't know. I am now just relearning how blogger has things arranged and how my blog is designed. It will take some getting used too, but it is not that different.

From here on out, I will try to post once to twice a week with book reviews and other feature posts that I can do on a weekly basis. I cannot wait to share my thoughts with y'all on what I've been reading!

I suck. I have been radio silent for over a year now and I have no excuses. I am only sorry that I let you all down.

In the next couple months I am going to try to get my blog up and running again. It won't be like it used to be, but I'm going to try to get it to a state that I am happy with. Paper Cuts will be going through some changes here. I have grown up a lot in the past year or so, and my reading tastes have differed as well. I hope I can still stay true to the roots that I set out to begin with and build a blog that all the readers will enjoy.

Also, I will be using this for a school project, so if you see any none related book posts, that's why.

Thank you guys; for anyone who reads this blog and has stayed a follower. I love you all.